701 Direaions ag«inft Perjury. Jr is"oneof temporal fo~fc:ty or commoditr, and.will carry him no further ~han the ~~y is fair: It is no wonder F.~~~;;~: :~~~:J~~ut~~;hi~ro~ ~i~r~~~~n4'~i;~~~~~i~;e,b~;~n~~: ~~tie~':/~i~I ~:~~~~<;~het!~r~~;G~~:ng bitaumjJ:rtj~crawlo .-ttrtioum ha~r. What \till not an Athcifiiul impious pcrfon fay or fwe:tr, for :tdvantage ? Direll. 5• DircU.6. VirtU. 7· ~· 6. Dir<ct. ~· Beware of inordinaft fear of man, and of a dijlrujlfttl n>itbdrarving of h from God. Elfe you will be carryed to comply with the will of man, before the will 0 /'/';r d eartd to avoid the wrath of man before the wrath of God. Read and fea~ that heavy cllrfe ]er 0 , a~ God is unchangeable, and bath commanded you fo far to imitate him, as [If a m;n V. ~17' ~ ' umo t~e Lord, or fr:vear em oath to bin~ his foul r:cith "bon~, befhaU not br~aJt hi 1 word ; 0 he ;all oz· accordmg to all that proceeJeth out of' hu mouth, Numb. 30. 2.] But man IS mutable ; and fo is h. intereH and his affairs ; And therefore if you are the fervants of men, you mufi fwear one nar a 1 d forfwear it, or fwcar the contrary rfie next : when their intereH requirerh it, you mufi not be rh~ug'lu worthy to live among men if you will not promife or fwear as they command you : And when their intcrefi altererh and requireth the contrary, you mull hold all thofe bondsto be but firaws and break them for their ends. , 9· 7· Direct. 6. Be [•re that yo~ lofe not the fear. of.God, and the tmdernefs of y•nr <onfciencer. When thefe are loll your underftandmg, and fenfe and hfe IS loll ; and you Will not llick at the great– eft wickednefs; nor know when you have done ir, wha: you did. If faith fee not God contiilualiy prefc:nt, and forcfce not the great approaching day, ~erJIHY or any ~illany wi!J fcem tolerable, for worldly ends; For when you look but to mens prefent tafc, you will fee that the righteo 11 t and tbe wi[t and tbtir :vorJts are iH the h&n~s iJf God: no ma1t. Jtnoweth ~ove or hatredby all that iJ before them: All tbing1 came alik_! to all: there i1 one event to the nf._hteous and t~e wic~d: to the gaod, and to the clea,z amJ. t~ the uuclran; to him that facrificrth and toblm th.Jt facrifictth not : a1 i1 the Good fo ; 1 the finner; and he th<Jt [wcareth as be that fc~trtth an oath, Ecdef. ~· .1, 2· But. in. the end, 'men jhall difcern between the rightrom and the wickJd, Mal. 3· 18. Therefore 1t ts the behevmg forefight of the end, that by prcfcrving the fear of God and tenderncfs of Confcience, mull fave you from this and all other heynous (in. , § . 8. Direct. 7• Be not bold and rafh about .Juch dreadful thing! at Vows. Run not as fear!tfl1 upon them as if you were but gmng to your dmner_: The wra~h o~ God IS not to be jeafied with: V{q; ad aras, was the bounds even of a Heathens kmdnefs to hiS fncnd. Meddle with Oarhes with the greatefi fear and caution and circumfpcCtion. h's teuible here to find that you were mill:aken threugh any temerity or negHgcntcor fecret feduCtion of a carnal interdl. ' DireU. 8. 9· 9· Dir<ct. 8. EJFeciaYy be very fearful of owning any publick,. tiollrine, or doing any publick,. all, Nunc nunc wbiciJ ttndtth toharden others in thtir Ptrjtl')', or lo tttcoUrage m~tltituda tg commit the fin. To be ;::~~~'er~ita- f01fworn your (elves is a dreadful c;;afi~e ; but 1 to tfea 1 chh. wh~le Nahtions or Churches w forfwCar tur:Quiferthtmfelves, or toplc:ad for it, orjufti r it as a aw ut ~ng,Js muc inoredreadful: And though you teach not or own not Perjury under the name of Perjury, yet if firfi you will make plain pei- ;;;":g:;.l jury w fcc:m no Perjury, that fo you may jullifie ir, it is fiill a moll inhumane horrid act. God knoweth I infult not over the Papifis, with a delight to make any Chrifiians odious : Bur with grief I remember how lamentably they have abufed our holy profeffion, while not only their great Doctors, but their approved General Council at the Laterane under P. Imtocwt the third, in the third Canon hath Decreed that the Pope may depofe Tcmporal Lords from their Dominions, and give them unto others, and difcharge theirVaCfals from their Allegiance and fiddity, if they be hereticks, or will not exterminate: Hereticks ( even Cuch as the holy men the~e condemned were ; in the Popes account ) To detlare to manyChriflian Nations, that it is lawful to break their 0 1thcs and pro.mifes· to their lawful Lords and Rulers; or their Vows to God, and to undertake by defending or owning this, to jullilie all thofe Nations that !ball be guiky of this Perjury and perfidioufnefs, 0 what a hor· rid crime is this ? what a fhame even unto humane nature ! and how great a wrong· to the Chrifiian Rule •· name J • ~· I O• Direct. 9· V 1derjbnd and remember thtfe foUowi1tg ltulrs, to acquaint you hbw f.Jr a 'DOIP it oblig•tory: which I Oull give you for the mo£1 part our of Dr. S•>tderfon, becaufe his decifions of thefe cafes are now of bell c:ft:cem. · y. Il· Rule I· The General Rule laid down, Numb. 30· 2>3. dorh make a Vow as fuch ·, beobligatory, though the party jhould: have a fecrct equivocation or intent that th~ugb ~e {pc.tl{_.tbe word1 to deceive anQtber, yet he will not sbtigt himfelf. Such .a rcferve not to obhge h1mfelf hmdcreth not the oblig-ation, but provcth him a perfidious hypotnre. D.Smderf. pag. 23· Juramentum omnt tx fitd 11aturd eft obligatoriRm: Ita ut fi qui4 juret non·imtndtnl fe obligart, nibitomilflll tt~me'! fufcipi– endu jurammtum ipfo {110o "bligetur : that is, lf he f~ fa~ underft:and what he doth as tba~ hJs words may bear the definition of an oath 01· Vow : Othcrw1fe tf he fpeak the words of an Oath m a flrange langu;ge, thinking they fignifie fomething elfe, or if hefpake in his ileep,,or deliration, or difiraction, it is no Oath, and fo .not ob1igatory. ~· 12· Rule 2. Thofe conditions are tobe ta~ea as intended in all Oathes ( whether cxpreft: or no~ ~=l~r~~a~· . which tbe very n~ture af the thing doth nectffarily imply ( unlcfs any be fO bruitifh. as ro cxpre[s. ~he < dttf.P·lt 7 • contrary): And thefe are all reducible. to two heads, r.Anatur;~J, and 2· Amorallmpof!ihdzty. <& r9 7• I• Whotvcr fweareth to do any thing, or give anything, is fuppofcd to mean [ lf I live; and if I bt
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